__NOTOC__ Albert Cuny (16 May 1869 – 21 March 1947) was a French

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

known for his attempts to establish

phonological Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...

correspondences between the

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch ...

and Semitic languages and for his contributions to the

laryngeal theory The laryngeal theory is a theory in the historical linguistics of the Indo-European languages positing that: * The Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) had a series of phonemes beyond those reconstructable by the comparative method. That is, the ...

. He was a student of the French Indo-Europeanist

Antoine Meillet Paul Jules Antoine Meillet (; 11 November 1866 Moulins, France – 21 September 1936 Châteaumeillant, France) was one of the most important French linguists of the early 20th century. He began his studies at the Sorbonne University, where he was ...

( Faral 1947:277). From 1910 until his formal retirement from teaching in 1937 he was a professor of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and

comparative grammar Comparative linguistics, or comparative-historical linguistics (formerly comparative philology) is a branch of historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages to establish their historical relatedness. Genetic relatedness ...

at the

University of Bordeaux The University of Bordeaux (French: ''Université de Bordeaux'') is a public university based in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It has several campuses in the cities and towns of Bordeaux, Dax, Gradignan, Périgueux, Pessac, and Ta ...

(ib. 278). He continued teaching

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

at the University however for the rest of his life (ib.). He was a correspondent of the

Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres The Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the Institut de France. The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions ( epig ...

(ib. 277). Cuny's place in the development of the laryngeal theory is described as follows by

Émile Benveniste Émile Benveniste (; 27 May 1902 – 3 October 1976) was a French structural linguist and semiotician. He is best known for his work on Indo-European languages and his critical reformulation of the linguistic paradigm established by Ferdinand de ...

(1935:148):

Bibliography

Selected works by Albert Cuny

* 1914. "Notes de phonétique historique. Indo-européen et sémitique." ''Revue de phonétique'' 2:101–132. * 1924. ''Etudes prégrammaticales sur le domaine des langues indo-européennes et chamito-sémitiques.'' Paris: Champion. * 1924, co-authored with Michel Féghali. ''Du genre grammatical en sémitique.'' Paris: Geuthner. * 1943. ''Recherches sur le vocalisme, le consonantisme et la formation des racines en « nostratique », ancêtre de l'indo-européen et du chamito-sémitique.'' Paris: Adrien Maisonneuve. * 1946. ''Invitation à l'étude comparative des langues indo-européennes et des langues chamito-sémitiques.'' Bordeaux: Brière.

Other works cited

* Benveniste, Émile. 1935. ''Origines de la formations des noms en indo-européen.'' Paris: Adrien Maisonneuve. * Faral, Edmond. 1947
"Éloge funèbre de M. Albert Cuny."
''Comptes-rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres'' 91.2, 277-279. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cuny, Albert Linguists from France Paleolinguists Linguists of Indo-Semitic languages 1947 deaths 1869 births

See also

Bibliography

Selected works by Albert Cuny

Other works cited